The U.S. Census Bureau reported this morning that construction spending in June dropped by 0.6% to an estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate of $883.9 billion from an upwardly revised estimate of $889.4 billion in May. Compared with June 2012, spending is up 3.3%. For all of 2012, construction spending rose 9.9% year-over-year compared with 2011.

Most important, here, is the upward revision of $13.9 billion to the May estimate. In April, construction spending totaled $870.3 billion.

The consensus estimate by economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a rise of 0.4% in construction spending for June. Based on the Census Bureau’s original estimate for May, June spending actually rose about 1%, more than double the consensus estimate.

Spending on private residential construction fell 0.1% to $338.16 billion, compared with the revised May total of $338.36 billion. Private nonresidential construction fell 1.0% month-over-month and total private construction spending was down 0.4%, compared with a revised May total of $625.43 billion.

In the private sector, single-family residential construction was 28.2% higher than it was a year ago, and multifamily construction was up 40.6% from June 2012. Private commercial construction was down 1.4% year-over-year, and down 5.1% from May.

In the public sector, seasonally adjusted total spending was down 9.3% year-over-year, continuing a slide begun in September 2012. Spending on educational facilities fell 6.6% month-over-month and 0.8% from June 2012 spending. Public residential construction was flat month-over-month, and was 18.1% higher year-over-year.

Construction spending in the public sector remains in decline. In the private sector, the volatile multifamily construction spending continues to show growth of around 2% per month.

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